“Trained animals”: Jello Biafra’s big problem with physical education
Eric Reed Boucher, better known as Jello Biafra, is one of the most pivotal figures in punk history. In his heyday, he affirmed the genre’s inherently countercultural spirit beyond any doubt, pushed hardcore into new areas, and has continued to fly his subversive flag since he departed Dead Kennedys in 1986. He is not just a frontman; he’s a spoken word artist, intellectual, and label boss who leads by surreal example. His lifelong rebellion bears many valuable lessons in an era like ours, where the rug is being pulled from under everyday folk.
Famously, Biafra’s the man who proudly instructed Nazi punks to “fuck off!” a significant moment that declared the form’s original message for any doubters. While just one of many hyper-politically-charged tracks by Dead Kennedys, this frank, on-the-nose messaging was key in a period where malevolent political forces threatened to ruin the genre and invert it into its antithesis. Although Ian MacKaye and his various efforts in establishing the hardcore ethos are rightfully most celebrated, cuts like this by the Dead Kennedys were also crucial in stapling the subculture’s philosophy to its mast.
Elsewhere, Biafra’s distinctive delivery and fusion of black comedy with social comedy in other classics such as ‘Holiday in Cambodia’, ‘Kill the Poor’, and, of course, ‘California Über Alles’ have placed him as a man of the people, and a champion of progressive causes, who espouses pure ingenuity in his mission.
In a typically American way, Biafra believes in freedom and autonomy at any cost. A member of the American Green Party, he feels so compelled by politics that in 2000, he ran for their President and did so well that he came second to the esteemed thinker and environmentalist Ralph Nader. That was not his first attempt to break into politics, either. In 1979, he ran for mayor of San Francisco, employing absurdist media tactics in the vein of the countercultural organisation the Yippies to highlight civil rights and social justice issues.
When speaking to SPIN in 1986, Biafra offered insightful opinions on various topics, including social issues such as “The American Dream” and the fall of what he deemed the country’s “Empire”. However, one of his most substantial points was the role of physical education in America, and as you might expect, his take on the matter was somewhat cynical. He thinks it serves to make citizens “obedient, trained animals” ready for work.
Biafra said: “The purpose of schools in America is not for people to learn anything, it’s to make them obedient, trained animals for a more efficient workforce. In other words, don’t read that book until your penmanship is good. The reason P.E. is pushed so much is because they want people to obey quasi-drill-sergeant-like orders without asking questions as opposed to thinking on their own.”
“That mentality tends to follow a lot of people out of school and especially into the business world,” the frontman continued. “One thing it sustains is the psychiatric industry, when people freak out later on, wondering what they’ve done with their lives and why they have no soul. Maybe part of the solution to this—if there must be schools—is a little more emphasis on art and literature and theatre and not so much emphasis on sports. I think all organised school athletics should be abolished.”
It’s a damning critique, but one that continues to be relevant today. With America so intensely politically fractured and the country on its knees socio-economically, if you abide by anything akin to Biafra’s Yuppie philosophy, you will likely agree with his point on the role of the education system and P.E.
